Eagles two victories from perfect road season

Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2001

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Eagles are two victories away from a perfect record - on the road.

After winning just one game away from Veterans Stadium from 1997-99, the NFC East-leading Eagles have won 12 of 14, excluding the playoffs. They are 6-0 on the road this year and have won nine straight in the regular season.

"We just take the approach when we go on the road that it's us against the world," cornerback Bobby Taylor said. "We take that to heart. We rally the troops. Guys seem to be a little more focused."

When Andy Reid took over as coach in 1999, the Eagles were coming off consecutive winless seasons on the road under Ray Rhodes. A 10-10 tie at Baltimore in 1997 was the closest the Eagles came to winning during that stretch.

Philadelphia finally snapped an 18-game winless streak with a 20-16 victory at Chicago in Reid's sixth game. But the Eagles lost their next five road games in 1999.

The winning started in last year's opener at Dallas, when Reid began the game with an onside kick, and the Eagles rolled to a surprising 41-14 victory. They finished 6-2 on the road before losing to New York at Giants Stadium in the NFC semifinals.

"I think you try to keep it as consistent as possible, that's number one," Reid said. "Another thing is you try to eliminate distractions and allow the players some privacy away from family, friends, and others who want to come and visit with them. We keep the floors secured, make sure they are there at a certain time. They have a bed check and all that. We set up an area for the families to meet the players as opposed to the floor. We just try to eliminate the distractions the best we can. It's very similar to the philosophy that we have here at home."

The defense has been most impressive on the road, holding opponents to just 38 points, an average of 6.3 per game. The 10 points scored by Kansas City on Nov. 29 were the most by any home team against the Eagles this season.

"The main thing is the confidence level," safety Brian Dawkins said. "Wherever we are playing, we expect to win."

Dawkins was here when the losing streak started in 1997. He remembers the 21-20 loss at Dallas on a Monday night in Week 3 of the 1997 season. Kicker Chris Boniol, a former Cowboy, was lined up to kick a short field goal that would've won the game, but holder Tommy Hutton fumbled the snap.

"It was downhill from there," Dawkins said. "We used to find ways to lose games instead of finding ways to win."

The Eagles have finished undefeated on the road just once since their inception in 1933. They went 4-0 away from home en route to a 7-1-2 record in 1944.

But the two remaining games this season are tough ones. They play at San Francisco on Saturday and finish the season at Tampa Bay on Jan. 6. The 49ers are 6-1 at 3Com Park. The Buccaneers, just 3-2 at home, probably will be playing for a playoff spot in the last game.

"We treat everyone the same," quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "It's definitely important to play your style of football because you don't want their crowd to get into the game. Once their crowd gets into the game they feed off of that energy.'